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OK chaps, last chance - please keep this tread updated with details pertaining to your own individual case, crime numbers etc, but please keep any banter, ideas for retribution etc off the page otherwise I'll lock this down. Since my last message it's slipped that way again, which I understand, but we don't want to give Mick ANYTHING he can use against us, not that I have any confidence in him pursuing us, but still. Thanks ped

It's pretty much what I was looking for; a short scale passive 4-string, pickup arrangement closer to a Stingray than a P, with a nut width closer to a P than a J. I've had G&L's (USA and Tributes) before, and have always liked them, apart from the over-complex controls on some of the active models. Bass was very well packed in a box inside a box. Came with a small set of Allen keys for neck and saddle adjustment, and D'Addario roundwound strings which were immediately replaced by my favourite nylons. The strings I had here were all medium scale to suit through-body stringing on my previous short scale bass (Squier Vista), and needed to be cut down a fair bit to fit the Fallout. I'd say short scale strings would be fine for the Fallout. I'll need to buy some proper length strings for it. Initial impression was a little disappointing, to be honest. Fret buzz was so bad it was virtually unplayable. I saw that the bridge saddles were all over the place - two had one screw all the way in and the other all the way out. The other two saddles were sitting on the bridge plate. I sorted that out and put a tad more relief into the neck. Now the bass started to sing and play. The MFD pickup is well-known and suits this bass well, I reckon. The pickup is powerful without being too barky or aggressive. Roll off the tone, and you're not far off P sounds. Differences between the three settings are fairly subtle, and only one is truly humbucking. I'm settling on the middle position - no idea what it is. Tone control works well with a good range of adjustment - better than plenty of other basses I've tried. With a wide, rough-finish leather strap, I'm not getting any neck-dive. On luggage scales, bass weighs 4.2 Kgs. The finish on the rear of the neck is not as good as my previous G&L's, and this has been the main disappointment for me. It feels rather unfinished, and not especially smooth. I may decide to wire-wool it and then use some oil. The quality of the finish on the body is absolutely fine. Maple fingerboard has a few natural stains in it, but feels smooth enough. I've not discovered any sharp frets yet. Setting the intonation has been a challenge. That's most probably because the new nylon strings are stretching quite a bit, and my clip-on tuner is not agreeing with my output jack tuner! Overall; My feeling is that this will be an excellent back-up to my No.1 bass which is a Lakland Skyline Hollowbody. And that's what I've been looking for. Because of the woeful (i.e. non-existent) setup on arrival and my liking for floppy, stretchy strings, it's taken me two days to get the bass to a playable state. Maybe that's to be expected for a brand new instrument that's travelled a long way. The quality of the neck finish (I think Ed Friedland mentions this in his short video) could be better and does not match the finish of other G&L Tributes I've had. Overall, I'd say the bass is worth the money because of the unusual mix of nut-width, scale length, pickup position, and for its MFD pickup. Waffling now. I'll shut up.

Thumbs up from me! Looks like a short scale though. Edit: tell a lie, 24 frets!

Count hit 70 before I even started thinking about the Peaveys, over 60 of them. Think I need to lie down 😁

Stagg P bass - borrowed, came to me in bits from someones CDT project at school. Had to learn how to put it together and set it up before I could learn to play it Status Shark 2 Proactive - found at the back of a shop in colchester, new - neck like a banana and bits going rusty... what a first bass though. Kinda polite sounding Fender Precision Japan PB57-US - Formed a band. needed a 'proper' bass. It was lovely, fitted a annodized scratch plate. Warwick Streamer Stage 1 (1991) Blue - Joined bass chat. realised someone would pay me money for my Status... sold it and convinced @warwickhunt to sell me his blue streamer. Hated the sound! Warwick Streamer Stage 1 (1991) Natural- found locally for sale, weighed less than the blue one and sounded better - was my main bass really for years. Fender JV Squier Series Precision '57ri - One of the ones that is super rare. Amazing bass. Had a SD-PB1 pickup in it - sounded great. Tracked down an original pickup - didn't sound as good. Currently residing with @sdbrown8177 Valenti No.42 - bought from @richardd kept for a month, sold to @funkyspuke - I didn't like the sharp corners on the body and the ugly typeface on the headstock- and I didn't like Jazz basses. I learned after this that a new bass needed at least 6 months before you sold it on. Fender USA 70's RI FSR in Lake Placid blue - bought a few weeks after the Valenti from @AndyTravis - lovely thing proved I didn't like jazz basses. Went to Barcelona Cimar model 1905 (1975) - - Found for £40 in a secondhand shop off Byres Road. Fixed it up with the help of @Bassassin - one of the most fun things to play ever. Unfortunately bought it to do up and sell to a really good friend. He won't sell it back Peavey T40 - Took 4 trains and a bus to a random suburb of Paisley to collect it. Almost lost my arm on the way back. Weighed about double my main Streamer did. Once you had picked it up it was quite fun to play live. But far too heavy. Cant remember who it went to, probably a black hole. Kramner P JJ thing - Bought on here as it had an original JV P pup on it. The seller didn't want to sell me the pup for £100 but 6 months later sold me the whole bass for £120 or something. Kept the pickup sold the bass...It wasn't very nice Aria RSB fretless oddity - Bought off here, old thing, defretted and with some crazy 80's pickups in it- sounded great in the hands of the guy who I sold it too! Self build green Stingray thing. - Body off a Vox standard, and some neck I found. Don't use Ronseal Dimondhard floor varnish in the place of Epoxy on the neck.... it's too hard to sand! Horrid thing really Self build Pink Stingray thing - attempt 2 someone built a bass on a bass building course at uni. I made it look like a stingray and refinished it pink. Heavy and didn't play nicely. Self build Black blue stingray thing - attempt 3 - built the body myself from a lump of ash, HH set up giving me P ray and jazz style tones, MM Sub neck. Was nice but not nice enough to play. By the time I had finished it probably cost me as much as just buying a secondhand stingray. Lesson learned. Vision Matsumoku Japanese oddity - it was black - that's all I can remember Yamaha BB300 (Japan) - tricked up a trade along with the Squeir jazz below. Was the nicer of the two. Sold it stupidly Squier Jazz bass Japan '92ish- Not as nice as the BB300. Stripped the body... possibly wood, possibly something else, bought a new body sprayed tomato soup red with graffiti paint. Nice but I don't like Jazzes remembe? Warwick Thumb bass (1985) - You know your long term GAS bass that you've wanted since you started playing? Yep - this was it. Phenomenal.Beautiful. Except it turns out it spent a couple of years not being played. Made an amazing racket when it was. Yamaha BB1200 (1977) - - Really nice early one. Liked everything about it apart from the sound. G&L L1000 (1982) - From @gareth Replaced the BB1200 - much more my thing, and it was green. They are brilliant. Very hot output. Sold to pick up a Precision bass. (still not bought) Sadowsky Metro Will Lee - Traded with Warwickhunt for the Thumb bass plus I think he wanted about 3 extra cases. The best bass I've owned by a long way. Almost impossible to get a bad sound from it. Just beautiful sounding. Only traded cos a Sadowsky is easier to sell than a vintage Warwick ... I got it home and "I could sell all my basses but this one" wasn't exaggerating! Since getting it the old No.1 streamer and L1000 were sold as they weren't getting played. ❤️ Lakland 55-94 Classic (5 string from 1999) - Picked up locally because it was red and at a nice price. 5 strings are ok?! Pretty good bass, really really fat low mids, it sounds louder than the Sadowsky even when it's not if you know what I mean.Jurys still out on it a bit but just survived the cull of 2020

This is what can be achieved when generous people donate stuff. Thanks you so much to all of you. Jon

One thing that I've seen a lot is people listing in the advert that they've fitted a new set of strings like it's a selling point. Apart from the whole 'not my kind of string' thing, the first thing I'll do with a second hand bass is cut the strings off. I don't want whatever the previous owner has managed to grind between the windings all over my fingers thank you very much. Usually while they're off the bass will get stripped and everything thoroughly cleansed, including the fretboard, then polished and oiled and a fresh set of strings. The funk may indeed be in the gunk, but I'm not finding it in someone else's.

I changed it to try to inject a little more humour... the entire thread was started because we were taking the proverbial out of me buying endless amounts of basses, when my sub £200 Yamaha is absolutely fine. Anyhow, I work bloody hard and if I don’t spend it on basses...it’ll be cheap cars, fast drugs and hard women...

Wonder if Shaftesbury are going to sue them...

You need to change your username to Musicman3000

my post appears to have been removed. I had just wanted to make it clear that not all of us have received the money we have been promised. he still owes musicians who were employed in good faith. Also wanted to make it clear that some artists and theatre shows he was associated with in the past, he is now no longer involved with and not to tarnish everyone with the same brush and potentially damage the reputation of those shows. The sooner he is back behind bars, honest musicians can return to playing on these shows again. I will post details on here if i get paid and also updates regarding legal action which many of us are taking to recover our money as this could prove useful to the members of the group

There isn’t much more relaxing than drilling a bunch of holes with a Forstner bit and Pillar Drill 😂 So today I cleaned up the neck a little and finished the scallop. I was worried for nothing..... will not cause any issues at all. Then drilled a bunch of holes, drilled the earth and bridge holes (fingers crossed I route the neck pocket right .... ), routed the control cavity. I am pondering if I should make a wooden ramp/pickup cover in one instead of the single jazz pickups. Have a nice a light bit of maple left over and mahogany. Also have a nice bit of Walnut left and some Wenge.... hmm, might go for a ramp thing... why not.

@PatrickJ and I were talking about how many basses I’ve got through. We had a laugh, I shared ridiculous purchases (the Samick I bought when bladdered which I then Sold to @lee650 the next day) among others... So - from memory... Kay precision - gifted by a family member, was firewood, basically... Yamaha bb300 Japan - Bought in May 1997 for £99 in Sound Control - I resprayed it, shoved a mudbucker in it, stupid move. Sold to a mate... Washburn xb100 - Bought from A1 Music in Manchester, it was transitioning to Academy Of Sound, I’d actually gone to buy a Hohner B2A I’d seen that week, but it’d sold Jackson c5p - Bought by my uncle for me, ended up owning this 3 times, used as PX fodder towards a USA jazz, bought back and then sold...and then given back to me and then sold... Schecter model t Robert DeLeo - Used money from Saturday job, took ages to pay off, had it a week, returned it and traded with Jackson c5p towards Jazz bass Fender American standard jazz bass - traded two basses for it, found I snapped g strings on it - probably poor technique at the time...this was at Sound control Warwick corvette - Traded the jazz for this, kept it for years, played it up until 2009 when I sold it, this was at Academy of Sound Spector NS-94 - bought from the short lived Manchester bass centre. Had LED’s in the neck, bought on the day I saw the blue Tune bass I’ve got on the way...swapped for an amp at Spectrum Music in Whitefield. Fender Marcus Miller Jazz Bass - First Purchase when I worked for Dawson’s, kept it for about 5 years, sold to Nick Smith Epiphone Jack Casady - Lovely thing, sold to @Etienne Fender 50’s classic P - Bought for me by a girlfriend, was a nice bass... Fender Japan 62P - Bought from Ishibashi, never got on with it. Lives in Oldham now. Fender 75 Jazz FSR limited - Lovely thing, sold to @LukeFRC Squier 83 Japan p/j - Wish this was still here, miss it hugely. Still belongs to a basschatter, who won’t sell it back 😞 Jackson c20 - bought on a whim, returned shortly thereafter, just not as nice as the c5p Hohner B2A - got one eventually, took to Edinburgh and sold to a basschatter while I was drunk on a stag do - great bass. Rickenbacker 4003 - Never meet your heroes, couldn’t get on with it. Kept in a case and sold. Musicman Stingray 3eq Piezo - Great bass, absolutely skinted myself to buy this... Musicman Bongo HH - Bought for my 21st Birthday, sold in dark times... Hofner Violin “cavern” - Sold to the same guy who has my old blue Japanese 62p, bought silly cheap, sold for not much more... Jaydee Supernatural - Another “never meet your heroes” moment - didn’t make sense in the band I was in, sold at a loss Ken Smith Burner Artist - Lasted a week, gutted...my ex announced £1000’s in debt the day it arrived, sold nearly every bass I had to resolve Musicman Stingray Classic - Got for my 29th (I think) second best stingray I owned, but definitely the nicest one. Musicman Stingray 2eq - Trying to recoup the stingray classic I missed, not as nice Status Kingbass Artist - Got this from @MB1 who relieved me of a Stingray Classic; found the body and scale too small... Status Groove Bass - arrived damaged, but a great bass, sold cheaply, would love a 4 Fender Geddy Lee Japan - Bought on a whim, sold soon after, loved how it looked, neck too skinny... Fender Nate Mendel - Mega light, lovely bass, replaced bits on it and then sold to @lee650 Sandberg California 5 - didn’t get on with it, bought in a rush as the Stingray 5 I was after had sold... Yamaha TRB5p2 - should’ve tried harder with this, beautifully made, just heavy and a bit uninspiring. Fender Roscoe Beck V - Bonkers thing, great great bass - again, would like a 4 string version Peavey g bass - thought it’d be like a Flea bass, wasn’t...looked ace though peavey gv bass (owned this twice) - Great bass, I sold because I stopped playing 5’s Self build plexiglass P - crazy heavy, 14-15lbs Self build p/j with limelight neck - great bass, swapped for BEX4c Self build p/j duck Dunn - lovely thing, was proud of this... Farida j fretted - still here, made for me when I worked for their uk distributor Farida j fretless - as above...Ebony board Farida fjb6 red - a project I never started, bought and sold within a week Farida fjb6 white - Used for the neck I still have and sold with a fretless board Mike Lull 5 jazz - Excellent bass, one of the nicest 5’s I’ve ever played Fender mex p/j deluxe - should’ve kept this, nice bass Fender roger waters - Not for me, made it into a 57 black’n’gold thing. Swapped for geddy no.2 Fender geddy Lee mex - nicer than the Japan one I had, didn’t last though... Fender custom shop 64 relic jazz (twice) - bought from @three, sold to @binkybongo (who was the original owner...) and then sold back to Loz...then I bought it back From Bill...very odd. Nicest Jazz ever...now belongs to @Normski Fender custom shop 64 NOS - meh, traded for 2 basses at GBBL. Fender custom shop 55p relic - Excellent bass, sold to @Beedster - was made for the CS trade stand at Musikmesse Fender 1977 p - lovely thing, best late 70’s I’ve seen/played... Fender 1975 p - great old P, comfy, barky, woody... Fender Japan Fretless P 70’s - Heavy, but gorgeous sold to @mcnach Fender PBAC fl - Bought out of curiosity, nice thing. Fender power jazz special - Lovely, no need for it though really... Epiphone thunderbird classic - bought at a crack converters, loved it but looked silly on me Epiphone thunderbird non reverse - bought because I wasn’t sure how stupid I could look twice over... Dearmond star fire - Just 🤷🏻‍♂️, looked ace, can’t remember much about it... Sadowsky metro J - Mega Bass, wanted a P/J Sadowsky metro p - Still here, love it Status guy pratt - loved it, couldn’t justify with the Sadowsky being so lovely (and similar) and to cover a bill 🙄 Status smart bass - Looked great, sounded great - hated the ‘square’ feeling neck... Epiphone jack Casady blue - to replace the gold one I should’ve kept. It’s ace. Spector Euro 435lx - Brilliant bass, flippin loved it. Sold because a car went pop. Turns out I could’ve kept it. Fender Marcus Miller white - now with @bassfan Fender Marcus Miller natural (refin) - Went mad on this, spent silly money doing it up and fitting posh guts...just wasn’t as special in the end and I preferred it as a stock bass, should’ve just had a respray done and kept everything else stock, lost its character Modulus Flea Bass - Still beating myself up over this, don’t talk about it Yamaha bb200 - bought for the neck, arrived damaged, sold cheap Yamaha bb300 - To replace my original bb300, was ace, sold to @bigsmokebass Yamaha bb350f - what the 200 neck was for...should’ve kept it, nice bass, just needed frets Yamaha bb425x - decent workhorse Yamaha bb415 - as above, both did plenty of gigs Yamaha bb1100s 1986 - dreamboat, second favourite BB I’ve ever owned Yamaha bb1100s 1988 - not as nice as other one Yamaha bb1024x - Hard to discuss Yamaha bb614 - recorded with this, nice Yamaha bb414 - This bass makes me smile Yamaha bbg4a2 - 🤷🏻‍♂️ Nice enough, bland... Musicman 1994 stingray 2eq - Best Stingray ever...sold because I’m a tit Godlyke disciple - Should’ve kept it, just an absolute banger...went to @bassfan when I got his Flea...easily one of the best put together basses I’ve owned. Washburn sb40eq - Mental Graceland esque bass, sounded ok, sold to a guy who runs a Washburn museum in America 😳 Aria sb700 - FFS, should’ve kept. It was pristine. Aria sb1000 - Alright, preferred the 700 in the end. Aria Steve Bailey - Bought in haste, sold at a similar pace, turns out it was a scarce pre production bass. Still 🤷🏻‍♂️ Guild b30e - best acoustic bass I owned, bar none Tacoma thunder chief - arrived smashed from Mansons, gutted Fender mex 60’s burgundy FSR - nice, but got the CS so fell out of favour Sigma acoustic bass - decent cheap ABG Yamaha attitude special - great bass, the purchase was laboured and got messy and the seller absolutely soured the whole experience and I sold it on after 2 months because it did my head in that I’d given a scoundrel cash for it Yamaha attitude standard pink - great bass Yamaha attitude standard black - Just, a bit nicer than the pink, dunno why Yamaha attitude plus - Was sent back, unfortunately Yamaha bb714bs - Sold to the wonderful @leemarseillebass - should’ve kept it but these things happen PRS EBIV - Again, never gave it a chance, and I would probably enjoy it more now. Nice thing... Yamaha rbx360 (think it was a 350) - got it cheap, did it up, sold it... Fender Stu Hamm Urge - too little Self build billy sheehan wife bass - Madder than a box of frogs, needed a push across the finish line, sold to @ceteraat a significant loss 😂 Yamaha BEX4c - Lovely thing, useless for the band I was in, sold, regretted Hohner Bbass natural - corking bass Hohner Bbass Black (still have this at a mates) - bought for buttons and was ultimately bollocksed, is now sanded to bare wood (maybe primed) and is just a body and neck...should actually finish it Fender AVRI 62P - sold, don’t know why, a nice bass Fender Roadworn Jazz - bought when I had a period without the 64 CS. Lovely thing Danelectro 59dc bass - Chased, chased and chased, got one - sounded like 60’s soundtrack basslines...sold when I realised the body was too small Breedlove 5 string bass - Did 3 gigs with a soul singer, sold it at a loss Ibanez BTB676 - taken in trade against TRB5PII, just too many strings, took ages to sell too... Gear4Music acoustic 5 (defretted) - just messing about with defretting, worked out well, sold it and made money Samick HFB-590 - 2 bottles of merlot, eBay and idiot at the helm...sold the day it arrived to @lee650 Oldfield acoustic bass - stolen by a crackhead, best thing for it...used to replicate a double bass on the cheap, the trubass strings were probably worth more... And a Tune bass arriving this week. please...if you can...share your list of shame. and if you’ve bought a bass from me, and it’s not on the list, please mention it. im so ashamed. never once have I said any of this has made me a good bass player.

I’d encourage anyone who wanted to learn a bit about funky bass playing to listen to The Meters. The bass player, George Porter Jr, lays down some terrifically funky lines. Generally not too taxing to play, (and brilliant to play along to) George’s feel for the bass, and his brilliant use of space (i.e. every note counts, and there’s often tons of space between them), for me, make them essential listening. I wish someone had steered me towards them earlier in my bass playing years!

going to take you a while to put a comment beside each one isn't it?!

I think a quicker way is, for each section, highlight the time range you want and then 'Render', then choose 'Time selection' instead of the default 'Entire project'.

I still struggle with understanding how a Chinese built Dingwall NG series sells for around £2k. Surely they only cost a couple of hundred to make on a CNC machine, plus maybe another hundred for the DG preamp. They are effectively telling us a setup in Canada adds £1700 to the value? Strewth!

Might have a new project post lockdown, so nailing some disco/dance music: Boogie Oogie Oogie, Street Life, Groove Is In The Heart, Sing it Back for starters 🤩

When I buy something with the word asus on it I consider it disposable! Having said that, no you should have been able to expect it to last longer than 18 months, and in fact I believe that as you must have bought that while we were still an EU member you have a right for it to last a 'reasonable period', which in the case of a laptop of that cost should be the full 6 years. And yes, friend of mine did get a full refund at 3 years on a laptop that failed that way, but he had to make a bit of a fuss.

That’s the thing about Music Man: they’re not bespoke in the slightest. Unless you’re an artist, you’re stuck with limited options: a whole bunch of funky colours that appeal a limited amount of players, and no choice for hardware/fretboard wood. I understand that it helps streamlining their building process, but since every EBMM instrument is made to order (either by a local reseller to have stock or for a customer order), I don’t see why we have to be so limited with options. Plus, again, colours are a matter of taste but man, enough of those sparkle colours.... Bring back some classics: a nice red, black, white, butterscotch, even that Teal .... and then, add a few more funky colours on top of that. Like, I love white basses.... and I can’t even get a White Stingray with Black hardware.

There are some good ones here:

Exactly; who bothers with underpants during lockdown?

Thanks for the support and reply guys. I'm going to send the neck on to Andy for a bit of first aid

can I say ta for the folk putting the description in as well - there's a load of stuff I've been "I wouldn't mind one of them" and someone saying "had one, it was shite" helps save me money!!

Oh hardly any then 😄. Maybe you could make a statement of how many basses bought over what time scale that could be made a sticky, so that the rest of could use it when we get 'those looks' upon arrival of a new one. 😁

@Doctor J, I completely agree. Although most/all of my basses are cheapies, half have been bought as projects at a snip. I enjoy refinishing them and sorting any issues, so they are an enjoyable hobby to work on, then they are pieces of playable art, then if I really need to I can sell at a profit, win win win. People happily pay £500 for a picture on the wall, this art can be taken off the wall and played, what could be better than that? As long as the bills are paid then I'd much rather have a bass collection than a money collection.

The mortgage gets paid, the car gets serviced, the cats get fed. If I've got money left to spend on a bass every now and then, where's the problem? Some people blow their money on smokes and booze. I don't. I like playing basses, I like building and repairing basses and I enjoy the different designs from an aesthetic perspective. They're tools, they're instruments and they're art pieces, all in one. I don't mind who knows it, I'm going to say it now... I... like... bass. 😳

@hiram.k.hackenbacker will be a millionaire on paper then with those new used prices 😂

I figure everyone has their "thing" Some people like fishing and spend their money on gear and permits. Some people put blingy wheels and loud exhausts on their cars. For some of us, it's basses. As long as it's affordable and doesn't harm anyone then it's all good.

I recently ordered a Sterling SUB 5er (I blame @mcnach for posting his thread about his new Harley Benton) from the Hull branch of Cash Converters. Put aside your feelings for CC, I know that they're not everybody's favourite company. Bass arrived safely in a Gig bag but well packed in tons of bubble wrap (replenishing my dwindling stock) and several black bags. I was concerned when I saw it but my concerns were unfounded. It was intact and seemingly unharmed. I unpacked the spade bass - pretty sure it must have previously been owned by Alan Titchmarsh or Charlie Dimmock - the strings were filthy, probably never been changed by the looks of them, the bridge was caked in dirt and grime and the Maple board looked like it had been played by a motor mechanic during his lunch break. Strings off, I was able to clean all the parts thoroughly in about 15-20 minutes and underneath all that gunk is what looks like a very nice bass. Obviously fitted a new set of strings and deposited the old ones in the bin. Now, as a buyer, it arriving in a mess automatically puts my back up - it suggests that somebody along the line really didn't give a sheet - it took very little time to clean. Had it arrived in it's present condition (cleaned) I would have assumed that it had been well cared for. CC always seem to have a stock of (cheap) strings - if they'd changed them to a clean, new set it would, again, have suggested that somebody was interested in making a good impression. I'm making a couple of points here. Now I know that CC are a business and want to make as much money as they can, and they probably acquired the bass in this poor condition but surely it's better business to have happy customers (who are likely to return) than just taking money from their wallets only once. Secondly, knowing the business model that CC adopt - buy crap cheap, mark it up and sell it on - I'm guessing it came through their door in this condition, so really they're just passing it on as they got it - the poor maintenance is clearly as a result of it's previous owner's lack of care. What also astounds me is that somebody, who at one time paid good money for this, allows their instruments to get in this state. (It's only now occurring to me that it may not have found it's way to CC from it's genuine owner). I'm pretty sure (check my feedback here) that anybody who has ever traded with me has done so with the confidence that the merchandise has been well looked after and will arrive in good condition. Am I naïve in believing this?

Can only comment about the DC. No neck dive, already has lightweight tuners. Fit and finish fantastic. Lightweight, nice and comfy. I also fitted a Supertone bridge. The 3 point works ok but I didn't find it comfortable when palm muting. Pickup up a little further down gives perhaps a bit more bite. Here is a clip of mine in action, through the pa via a fab Ampeg rig, to give an idea of what it sounds like

Well my mrs cant complain anymore

I can only comment on my course which was 1-2-1, other formats may start elsewhere. Yes, I literally started with 2 pieces of wood which I thicknessed and squared off an edge, joined and glued on cap. I then made a body template and neck template from plywood (which I still have) by drawing Jons template on the plywood and then cutting it all on a bandsaw. There then followed finishing the edges to be smooth. That was day 1 . Here's a few photos of the first couple of steps. The plywood for the templates can be seen on photos 2 on the left handside under the the other wood and with pencil on the end.

New Headless Birthday Bass Day! Thanks to the sterling collaborative efforts of @Paul S and my lovely partner, I got this for me birfday! It's a Riverhead Unicorn RUB1090, from 1985-ish. I've wanted one of these since I tried one at the old Bass Centre in Wapping in 1985, and sadly found myself unequal to the £500 price tag! They don't turn up too often & I've missed out on one or two, including this one when it first came up a few months ago. Happily Paul gave me first refusal - and a great excuse to get it at no personal expense! So everyone's a winner! This is in nice condition for a 35-ish year old bass. A lot of these are pretty tatty, seemingly the factory finish wasn't too durable, but this has had a decent refin at some point, over the original matt black. The hardware's in near-new condition, which I'm surprised & very pleased about - many of these have corroded-looking metal parts. There's a little bit of fretwear, mostly under the E & A around the first 5 frets or so. A fret level/dress would help but I don't know if I'll bother - Paul's strung it with flats & the slight acoustic rattle doesn't seem to be audible when plugged in. Actually this is the first time I've had flats on a fretted bass in about 15 years & I'm surprised how well they work on this! Through my little Yamaha THR10 it sounds nice & full, with a bit of a Jazz growl to it. Pickups are passive single coils & fairly close to J positioning. First impressions are that it's a bit nicer to play than my Hohner B2A or Cort Space headlesses - the chunky pickups provide a more natural feeling hand/thumb position and the narrow (39mm nut) but fairly deep neck makes it feel pretty substantial. Very early impressions, I may try a bit of recording with it over the next few days. On the whole, I'm chuffed to bits!

That’s a really good point. Now it makes me think.... I just paid £350 for an indonesian made SUB Ray4. Ok, it’s a cheap bass and some parts do feel cheap-ish. Overall it’s quite a good bass still, and it makes me wonder.... is an US-made Stingray actually worth 8 times the price of the SUB? It’s definitely worth more, there’s no debate... but eight times?!

Here we are a little further down the line fast approaching truss-rod fitting and bonding Daphne's fretboard on. Precision is the name of the game for a premium instrument. Here I'm able to dial in some truss rod adjustment if necessary to ensure a truly flat neck during final truing operations and to support each neck with profile specific jacking plates at their mid-span to limit deflection during machining.

£3000 for a stingray?? wooooh. Nope Id be buying a pre EB or a couple of decent early 90’s ones.

Cleaning out biocrud is half the charm of buying used.

In my 25 years as a founding member/bassist in KISS tribute 'Dressed To Kill' we were more than aware of the issues here. It was a mutual respect arrangement. We paid tribute to KISS, appeared at KISS product launches and helped promote the band when their UK/European record & PR companies were doing sod all, kept their name alive and spread the word.... We wore the outfits, played the iconic instruments and had the famous lit logo, drumhead logos, pyro, blood spitting, fire breathing etc.... BUT.... our name was sufficiently different (an 'album name' and a play on our 'look') and we NEVER sold any merchandise with the KISS logo or make-up prominently displayed. We ALWAYS made it clear that we were a KISS tribute.... and always supplied our set lists to PRS for the original artist to get fair payment for our live performances. As a result, they treated us fairly, always recognised us at gigs/events and even went as far as to keep a 'secret eye' on anything we were doing song/arrangement-wise. Really.....!! We had it on good authority that they copied a breakdown I wrote into the live version of 'God Gave Rock n Roll To You'.... and their Manager Doc McGhee also asked my direct opinion on adding Beth back into the live set....based on the perceived popularity of the song in our shows....

Lol! The list of basses I used to own is as long as the list of basses I still own...... i.e. loads!